Fandom Into the fire (1x1 MzHyde/Gallifrog)

[_gallifrog_]

Jay smirked at Rinaa's comment, glad that she was finally able to properly talk and relax with such a large group of extended family. Going back to her timeline had been a significant setback for her, and she'd made sure to arrive back at a late enough time that nobody except Jay was awake. She didn't talk about it, and Jay hadn't pushed her. But for two days afterwards she'd been subdued and actively looking for an excuse to get away from large gatherings like this one. To see her coming out of her prickly, defensive shell again was a relief for Jay. Rinaa had really grown on her the past weeks and Jay had no intention of letting her get more hurt than she already was.

The others in the room picked up on Fia's discomfort at varying levels, some knowing that friends was a touchy subject as Fia didn't have any. But nobody would comment, not wanting to draw attention to the topic. "Out the door there" she gestured at the door of the room, all but signing the directions as she spoke. "Then turn left and it's the first door. Handily labelled, if you know the language of course." This language barrier was going to become a problem in the future she realised, as a different language was spoken on her home planet. "And a warning, Attili isn't spoken on my planet, so expect some fun with language barriers, unless anybody here, besides Rinas knows sign?"

 

[MzHyde]

Fia listened to the instructions having no inclination to actually go to the bathroom, but just leave the room for a little while to compose herself. Nodding when she got it, she got up and left the room, turning left as if she was going exactly where she said and found the first door. She did toy with going in, but just ended up staying outside and leaned against the wall. Things were beginning to get to her again and it was making her frustrated. She rested her head against the wall staring up at the ceiling but not paying attention to it at all, a hefty sigh escaping her lips.

Kay really paid attention when it looked like Fia couldn't get out of the room quick enough and suddenly it all dawned on her why she would have left the room, making her mentally slap herself for not noticing straight away, even though she was sat opposite her. "Only ever picked up the odd little word here or there, but not enough to hold a conversation. So don't consider it a language I know" Kay replied, putting her attention back to Cliff. "I remember Fia saying something about a communication rune on her so she can understand any language she comes across, so she'll be okay" she added. She debated on whether to go after her kid or not, not fully knowing what to do.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"I wouldn't claim to be fluent, but I know enough sign language to get by." John replied. It was rusty, not having been used in a number of years, but it was just like any language really it came back with practice. "I'd forgotten you knew sign" Chas replied, shaking his head slightly as he genuinely had forgotten. He'd only known John to use the language with two people, the first being the man he learned it off and the second being a deaf teenager he'd ended up with when he went up north for a while. "Yeah well, I'm full of surprises like that." Chas turned to Cliff as he spoke the next part. "Well I for one, don't know any sign language." "I'm rusty, but decent." Jay replied, downplaying her ability, she was closer to fluent.

Cliff nodded upon hearing about the communucation rune. If it did work in alien languages that was actually pretty amazing in her mind. "People on my planet have nothing against magic, so it's okay if she uses it there." She directed that part at Kay and John, knowing the latter would be the most likely to question the safety of using magic. "But it's not exactly a mainstream thing on my planet either, it's known about, but it's rarely taken up there, I'm not sure why. So I'd advise not to do it around my siblings or they'll never leave her alone." She paused "I should add that for the most part my siblings are actually mature and responsible adults, except for one, but he's a teenager." Cliff felt like she'd spent a lot of time portraying them as being extremely immature when really, they weren't. "What's the policy on showing up with a magical house that's bigger on the inside and can travel through space?" Cliff considered, she'd been asked this question by John before and she said she'd think on it before giving an answer. "Well that's accommodation for you guys sorted them, and it'd presumably be more comfortable than sleeping on a ship."

 

[MzHyde]

The moment John said he knew a little sign language, Kay was surprised. She didn't know that about him at all, finding she really learn something new about him seemingly every day. The fact that Chas had forgotten about it showed her just how rarely he really used sign. Though when Chas said he knew nothing, she found it equally surprising as if someone had said to her guess which out of the two of them knew sign, she would have gone for Chas. Hearing that Jay knew it, didn't surprise her in the slightest. She easily could see how Jay would have picked it up with her lifestyle before Earth, let alone after.

She nodded at the information given about magic and Cliff's planet, knowing that if Fia was here she would have been happy to hear that she wouldn't have to hide half of who she was to everyone. She had no idea if the communication rune did work on alien language, only Fia knew that, but she took a guess it would considering the people who were part of her extended family. "What teenager is mature?" She smirked, taking on board what Cliff said, remembering to relay it to Fia later on. She listened to John ask about The House whilst hearing Cliff's answer, glad that there would be no problem with it. "I can vouch for the comfort and that's about it" she smirked, remembering when she was in one of the bedrooms being fixed up, and finding the bed really comfortable when she came to.

The smirk left her face though when she realised how long Fia had been gone, "I wonder what's taking Fia so long" she thought out loud.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"They have their moments..... but for the most part, immature shits because they can still get away with being like that." Cliff agreed, then cast a glance at Rinaa before adding. "No offense kiddo." Rinaa shook her head with a small smile. "None taken, don't worry and I can testify to teenagers doing exactly that. I know full well I did that when I was a teenager." She cast a look at Jay that said 'sorry, but I made you put up with a lot of shit". Being a single parent meant that Jay bore the brunt of Rinaa acting out. "What do you mean when you said when you were a teenager?" The use of the past tense had Chas questioning, was it just a slip of the tongue or was she implying something else entirely?

"Ah yes.... about that." Rinaa ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back over her head. "Time travel and aging are weird. The mind ages but the body usually doesn't. So I since I started time travelling at seventeen, and have been doing it for over two years, I'm now technically nineteen and a bit, thus by both Attili and Earth laws a legal adult. Which makes Fia the only teenager here." Rinaa spoke this all quietly, but clearly, looking dead on at the people she was talking to. She wasn't lying, that much was obvious. Nobody had ever asked her age, just taken it as a given. "Well bugger me side ways" was all John said. Then came Kay's query about Fia. "She probably just wants some time away from us for a bit, I'd leave it another few minutes, then go kicking down doors."

 

[MzHyde]

When Rinaa used the past tense in the conversation of about teenagers, Kay had rose an eyebrow at it, finding it a strange choice of wording for someone who still looked like a kid themselves. As per usual, Chas beat them all to it in asking about she used tense, allowing her to explain it all in a way that they would all understand, and not think she was utterly crazy. Listening to the explanation, Kay nodded, taking it all in seeing that Rinaa was in fact dead serious.

John worded her reaction perfectly and no doubt was everyone else's reaction as well, all except maybe Jay's. She could imagine it not coming off as much of a shock to her, compared to the rest of them. "Couldn't have said it better myself" she said after John. She looked at Chas when he told her to wait just a few more minutes before going looking for her kid. She trusted Chas' instincts on these things and agreed to do so. "Okay" was all she said.

 

[_gallifrog_]

None of them in the room knew about Rinaa's true age, not even Jay and they all had various expressions of concealed shock and bewilderment on their faces. Jay's was the most disguised, but Rinaa knew she was shocked by this information, not understanding why Rinaa had held it back. "You never said" there was an accusatory edge to Jay's tone that made Rinaa wince internally. She knew Jay felt hurt that she wasn't told. "None of you ever asked, and I don't exactly go around talking about it because for me.....age is just a countdown clock to the inevitable." There was so much she wasn't saying, it was blatantly clear she was holding back, but Cliff didn't ask, for once, she didn't want to know the answer.

They gave Fia the extra minutes she needed, for whatever it was she was doing or thinking about. Rinaa ate about half the packet of biscuits, then threw them back over to Cliff who put them away neatly in the cupboard. Each shift group had their own section of the storage and the fridge and cleaning duties worked on a rotational basis (like so many other things in the prison facility). When Cliff's phone vibrated she didn't even need to draw it out to know it was Cal. She took the device out, read the message then turned to the others. "Well, he's left, as we suspected, they're both alive, but shattered and since everybody in the prison seems to know Qui's been broken out, Cal's going to just waltz out the front door with him. And it's okay for us to all come down."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay just assumed that the science of it would be something that wouldn't shock Jay, so she didn't even think that it would be a surprise to hear such a thing from her kid. She noted the accusatory tone in Jay's voice and the slight since of Rinaa's. Hearing Rinaa's excuse for not telling anyone, even she could tell there was a lot of gaps in her reasonings but it wasn't her place to say anything.

She looked at the clock and wondered where the hell her own kid had gotten to, when Cliff's phone went off and read the message before relaying the information onto all of them. "Guess I'll be finding that kid of ours then" she commented, standing up. She didn't want Fia to be on her own here for long, and she clearly wasn't just going to the bathroom at this stage Kay figured out. "John you coming with?" She asked, figuring the fact that Fia was his too, it was only right both parents came looking for her. It was then that Fia finally emerged back in the room, making Kay look toward the door. "Was just about to come searching for you kiddo" she commented. "sorry.." Fia replied. "Are we moving from here or something?" She asked looking at everyone.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John let out a breath of relief when Cliff paraphrased the message from Cal. He wanted to see Elliott, he knew he wouldn't be fully okay after just seeing his father for the first time in almost twelve years. John wanted to be there for him in both an emotional and a physical capacity. This was his damn kid after all. Biology didn't matter in this, Elliott was his kid, nothing and no-one could change that. Rinaa had been sorting out the four decks as Cliff read out the text and was shoving them back into her bag when Kay made the remark about Fia. John was about to nod and haul himself out of the chair when walked back in. Excellent timing on her part, maybe too good. He knew she hadn't actually needed the bathroom, just a credible excuse to leave the room (which nobody believed it seemed).

"Yeah we are, they say it's okay for us to head down, so that's what we're doing. And since everybody in the prison knows about Qui" It was worrying that their course of action had been so obviously figured out, but at the same time it didn't take a genius to figure it out. "And since all the guards are on our side, we're going to simply walk out the door with him and screw the consequences." Cliff explained, it was a bold statement on Cal's part. There was no going back once they did that. It was publically making their stance known. It was just as well that they were going off world for a few days. The others stood up and began to make their way to the door.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay knew John would want to see Elliott at the quickest opportunity. They both saw Elliott as his kid and no one else's, and even she would fight anyone on that to stand beside both John and Elliott. It always made her think of something Bobby Singer from Supernatural once said to the Winchester's, "family don't end in blood," and that was incredibly true when it came to John and Ell, just as if was for her and her adoptive family.

She saw John about to get up as he nodded about finding Fia so they could all go down to meet back up with the other two, when Fia came back, like John, she thought it was very convenient timing. She let Fia listen to the explanation about why they were all getting up to leave the room. Fia nodded at what Cliff, glad that the first thing was over with and they could all regroup. "Bold choice but okay" she remarked, as they all headed to the door where she still was. Kay walked over and put her arm round Fia, "you okay?" She spoke quietly, concern in her voice, which just got a nod from Fia. "Yeah..I'll be okay" she replied just as quietly, shrugging out of Kay's arm, not wanting to be smothered.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"That it is, but was inevitable in a way. And if we're doing this we might as well go full on, full out." Cliff shrugged in response, trying to downplay what it was they were doing, but the truth was now that it was real, it was starting to scare her just how much they were risking. The danger was very real, as were the consequences for the consequences for them all. If Cal went down, Cliff was going with her, and if Elliott went down, everybody would follow him. It was strange in a way, it was bigger than one person, but at the same time it was about one person and one person only. Cliff didn't regret agreeing to this, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid.

John let Fia and Kay have their moment..... chat.... whatever it was. As harsh as it may sound, he was more focused on Elliott than Fia, for the simple reason that Elliott had been around longer and he knew so much more about than Elliott than he did Fia. It wasn't a difference in love, it was a difference in time. Cliff led them back through the corridors to the cell where Elliott was. The rest of the guards had begun to drift back to their posts and they nodded in recognition at the group as they passed. Some of the cells were occupied, others empty with doors flung open to reinforce that status. Staff were known to sneak into a cell to get a bit of peace before going to the usually crazy rec room or control room. In one such empty cell there was a man with shortish brown hair and his head in his hands. He was Elliott's father and like his two children was shaken up by the encounter he'd just been through. Cliff's route never passed near him, so none of the others clapped eyes on him, which was probably for the better.

Cliff considered knocking when she reached the cell door, but decided against it, choosing to push through with her shoulder. The two did indeed look emotionally shattered, but there was no sign of anything else out of the ordinary. Cliff went straight to Cal, while John and Elliott went for one another meeting somewhere in the middle in a tight embrace. The next few minutes were filled with hugging and Cliff suppressing the urge to be a doctor and diagnose them with severe stress.

 

[MzHyde]

Fia didn't want to be focused on, despite it possibly looking like that. She didn't blame John for not checking on her, she knew why and that it should be this way. She felt like Kay was checking on her because she didnt notice why she had left the room earlier and felt bad, or it was because she was pregnant and just felt it the thing to do. Which wasn't the truth of course, but it's how the teenager felt at that given time. She walked with the rest of them as Cliff lead the way back down to the cells to reunite with Cal and Elliott.

When they got back to Elliott's cell, she walked in and let John just go straight to him and hugged him tightly. During this walk to the cell she managed to put in her happy go lucky persona once more, and just look like she did earlier when she was worried about Elliott having the much needed chat. Kay left Fia alone from the moment Fia shrugged out of her grip as they did their walk, and once in the cell she found herself smiling slightly at John and Elliott hugging each other. She was glad that both looked okay, albeit emotionally exhausted.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Seeing the others brought Elliott's mood back up. It hadn't been easy talking to his father after all these years. It hadn't been easy to see him either. With him gone, Elliott and Cal had simply slumped on the desk and just stayed like that motionless. It took about five minutes for coherant thoughts to return, but it felt like an eternity. He hugged everybody on turn, giving the most attention to John, Jay and Rinaa. Neither Jay nor Rinaa said anything, and he suspected they wouldn't, not with so many people around. With Jay everything was still new, and he knew that if hadn't been for the presence of the extended family watching on, she'd have behaved differently. Rinaa was reserved, but that was out of habit of masking her emotions and thoughts around family.

"Well that was one hell of a 'job interview'." The air quotes, the tone of voice and John's laugh in response symbolised that this was an inside joke. John slung an arm around Elliott's shoulder and mock scolded him in his usual, gruff approach to this kind of parenting moment with Elliott. "Don't be such a smart arse." "Pfft, says you. I presume you've heard I've basically been bailed out of this place?" "Yep, a relief to all, though you'll be stuck on the couch or the armchair for those four hours you actually sleep." "It's not the worst place I've ever slept, and besides, we're leaving this planet in a few days anyway for the wedding, so it's not that big a deal." They were avoiding talking about just happened. Elliott could see just how much of an effort John was making not to ask and it meant so much to him.

 

[MzHyde]

Both Fia and Kay hugged Elliott when it was their turn, Fia giving the tightest hug she had ever given him but it was short and quick. Yet the hug said so much that words didn't need to be exchanged. Kay's was just short but conveyed somemkind of maternal care in it. When chatter started both Kay and Fia listened, glad that people were keeping to their word and not saying anything about the talk that went on. Seeing John put on his 'father scolding appearance', Fia just rolled her eyes and smirked, recognising it instantly.

"He's got a point, either of those options are better than this place" Fia chimed up finally, sounding more chipper than earlier. She, as well as Kay could see how much Elliott was appreciating the avoidance of the elephant in the room level topic that people were curious to know about. She put her hands into her jacket pockets, her arms causing tension on the garment as she put her arms down by her side.

 

[_gallifrog_]

"It's not exactly the Ritz is it?" Elliott smirked, casting an eye at his surroundings. When he'd first arrived he'd spent the first few hours getting to know every detail of the cell. Then Cal had arrived, and from there plans had been formed and enacted. But that didn't get away from the fact that the cell was mind-numbingly boring. He wished he needed eight hours of sleep like a human as it would at least mean less time spent going out of his mind. He'd sketched what he could and read whatever Cal smuggled in and did endless pacing and stretches to stave off the boredom. "More of a glorified fishbowl really, and with all the glass it makes me think of the prison cells at the end of Civil War."

"You've got a point there" John smirked at the Marvel reference as Cal and Cliff walked over. "So, back to the apartment then, taking the long route obviously?" Cal adled, to which Elliott nodded. "As long as we get out of here, then yes I'm all up for it." "I've got to agree on that, prisons are not somewhere worth spending any more time than necessary in." Jay was all for getting out, as was Rinaa, but for slightly different reasons. "Well I kind of should check the paint job on the bike, it was covered up with masking tape when I left the lab, but chances are it's come off and the paint has run, looking utterly shite." "You finished the bike?" Elliott had missed that piece of news, and in response Rinaa nodded, her ears reddening under her hair. "Last night actually, there's only the paint job left really."

 

[MzHyde]

Fia smirked back when Elliott joined in and added to what she was saying. She hadn't thought of the cells being like the ones in Civil War, until he mentioned it which made her glance around instantly seeing what he was meaning. She chuckled at the reference and at John saying that Elliott has a good point in his comment. She was about to add to the chat, when Cal and Cliff walked over and said about leaving and heading back to the apartment.

Kay definitely they had spent more than enough time in the area, mostly Cal and Elliott and deserved to get out and back to the apartment. She wasn't surprised that Rinaa wanted to leave to tend to her bike in the slightest. Seeing that she was in the middle of the paintwork when they met half way here, she had a feeling Rinaa would want to get back to it at first chance she got. She was ready to leave just to get out of the area as it held a bad vibe to her knowing what had gone on in there. "In good to go as well" she chimed in.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Cal led them from the cell, leaving the door wide open behind her. Another bold statement, making it official that the 'inhabitant' of this cell was not there, and would not be returning for quite some time. Now that things were moving it was just as much about making her stance public as it was executing the plan to get Elliott out and keep him safe. Every time Cal had brought Elliott out from the cell it had been by teleportation, so this was his first time actually walking out and inhaling the clean air. It was good to be out, Attil wasn't home to him, it hadn't been for years, but Cal's apartment was closer to home than the prison cell was. It was also his first time properly seeing the outside of the prison cell. "It's just as pompous and intimidating as I thought it would be." He declared, craning his head upwards to take in the full extent of the prison mountain.

"That is basically the point of a prison in the first place, besides keeping people in of course" Cal smirked, she was far enough away that Elliott couldn't jab her in the side for making a smart-arse remark. Rinaa went straight to her bike, where by some miracle most of the tape had managed to stay on. The bike had been painted in a base colour of matt black with detailing in purple and in certain places dark green. Ideally the paint would have been left to dry in a workshop, but it seemed to be alright. Crouching down, Rinaa carefully removed the tape, trying nor to scratch the new paintwork with her nails. Put of force of habit she stuck the tape to the sleeve of her jacket, as when she was elsewhere throwing it willy nilly just resulted in it getting stuck to somebody's shoe. "So did the paint get ruined then?" "Surprisingly not, there's no blinkingly obvious flaws in it."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay and Fia just followed with everyone else, noting the bold statement of leaving the cell door open on the process. Both of them admired Cal for her choices and her attitude in the whole thing. When outside, both noted how Elliott was looking at the building from the outside and Fia smirked at his remark about it. She stifled a chuckle at Cal's smartass reply, as Rinaa went straight to her bike.

As Rinaa checked it over and carefully pulled the tape off it, Kay took in the craftsmanship properly and was impressed by her skills but she wouldn't say anything, just thought it to herself. She knew even if she did say anything Rinaa wouldn't care about her opinion anyway probably. Fia noted the colour scheme and thought it was perfectly Rinaa, but that was about it in her thoughts on it. She had already seen the shell of the bike be made, so it wasn't as much of a big deal to her.

 

[_gallifrog_]

Stepping back and looking at the bike it was almost exactly as Rinaa had imagined it, sleek and streamlined, perfect for driving fast, capable of dealing with off road terrain and sturdy enough to withstand the paces she'd put in through. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of doing this earlier when there was all the time in the world to enjoy it, but she was going to make the most of it. "So wait, you build, designed and painted all this?" Elliott was damn impressed, knowing Rinaa was far smarter than she looked was very different from seeing it before his eyes. "The engine and tires I didn't make, and the guards, handlebars and dials are standard sized ones, but apart from that, yeah I did it all." She was fiercely proud of the bike and it showed, and a good portion of the walk back for her was spent discussing finer details of making a bike.

As predicted by Cliff and Cal she did indeed ask if it was okay to store her bike in the underground parking lot of the apartment building. The women had no problem with this and were going to give her the number and location, before Rinaa smirked and said she already knew as they'd all but given it to her in her timeline. Rinaa disappeared into the bowels of the building as the others made their way up to the floor with Cal and Cliff's apartment on it. They flopped down on the various seats and let out various sighs. "So what now?"

 

[MzHyde]

Elliott's impressed reaction did not go amiss on either Kay or Fia. Even Fia had to admit the bike now finished did look damn cool, having only seen it in its various pieces stage. Both girls let the others just talk with Rinaa about the bike, Fia only chiming in about when she saw the construction of it briefly. Otherwise neither of them had anything to add to the conversation.

Back at the apartment, Kay sat on the end of the couch, glad to be off her feet despite having been sat down for so long. "Good question" Kay replied, massaging her bump, just like she was known to do, it having become a maternal habit that she did subconsciously. Fia perched on the arm rest of the armchair, one leg resting on the other, her ankle on the knee. "I'm stumped on ideas as well" she added, not knowing what to do as a group, only ever knowing what to do on her own.

 

[_gallifrog_]

John had his feet propped up on the coffee table, looking utterly at home, Chas was in the armchair, Cal and Cliff were together at their end of the couch while Jay, Elliott and Rinaa had flopped down on either the floor or the beanbag chair. Nobody was really motivated to do anything by the looks of it. "Don't look at me" Rinaa held up her hands in mock surrender. "My suggestions really only go as far as watching either really shitty TV or some old movie.... in either language. And ordering in food. I'm fucking staaarving." She sounded like such a stereotype teenager as she drawled out the words that John and Chas had to refrain from laughing and smirking.

"That's not actually a bad plan, I can think of some good or utter trash films of the top of my head." Jay replied and even though she was sprawled in a beanbag chair she managed to have a sort of elegance to her pose. "Well considering all but three of my braincells are fried or on strike, I could go for that." Cal agreed. "Yeah, and another thought probably worth throwing out there, is there really any point in us staying on Attil for the next few days or should I delight my parents by showing up with a bunch of crazy people a few days early?" "Your parents are awesome, and I'm dying to see what shit your siblings will pull."

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had fallen slightly sideways into John to get relaxed, as she always did. For some reason she found him incredibly comfortable to lean on. "I could go for food so that plan works for me as well" Kay replied, liking Rinaa's plan. "Same here" Fia added, as she didn't even have any of the biscuits that the others did, due to her leaving the room for a while. She didn't even mind that Chas was in the armchair as she sat the way she did, leaning ever so slightly against him, but not enough that her weight would be all on him.

When Cliff brought up her other plan, Kay nodded liking the sound of being on such a planet to truly relax if they ever got the option to. Not only that it would mean The House would get summoned there and she'd be somewhere familiar. "I'm fine with that too" Kay said again. For someone so tied to fire, she did love the water greatly, which she out down to living in Seattle for so long.

 

[_gallifrog_]

There was general nods of enthusiastic approval at the idea of taking a off a few days early. "I'm totally up for planet jumping, and your family is awesome Cliff." Rinaa loved the idea already. She loved Cliff's homeworld, even though she could never dye her hair on it and Cliff's parents really didn't bat an eye at anything after raising five kids. "If I'm going to go space travelling, then I'm going to make the most of it, so that's a yes from me." "Honestly, I think I'd go stir crazy on this planet just waiting for something to happen." "I'm more than up for it, a change of location would be a good thing for me, it's still weird being back." Elliott sighed slightly on the last words, effectively shutting down any further conversation on that topic.

"Well that's sorted then, we leave tomorrow morning." Cliff declared, stretching out and wrapping an arm around Cal. "And since we are totally over qualified with the amount of pilots we have compared to passengers they really can't so no to us borrowing whatever the hell we like." "Sounds like a plan. So where does good take out here?" "Almost everywhere, it's literally a matter of what people want to actually eat and if it comes to ordering from several different places, so be it." "Well if that's the case, then I'm totally having something from that burger place we used to eat in at strange hours of the night." Elliott declared.

 

[MzHyde]

Kay had a feeling everyone would like to planet hop, especially Elliott. She nodded at the decision of leaving in the morning, making a mental note to not sleep in so long like she had been with John. Then the talk came back to take out and what to eat, Elliott's reply about wanting burgers making her smirk. She remembered going for burgers with him that first training day which in turn made her meet AJ and his sister for the first time. It felt like an eternity ago now, even though it really wasn't.

She didn't really know what she fancied, and had to think about it for a short moment. "I could go for pizza personally" she eventually said. "I'm with mum. I could go for pizza" Fia spoke up. Neither having eaten from that pizza place that Rinaa had ordered from when they first arrived here pretty much, but heard good things about it. Neither would have suggested different if it wasn't for Cal saying if they get from different places then so be it, but she did and so they figured they'd both go differently to Elliott.

 

[_gallifrog_]

It ended up being a split between burgers and pizza with Rinaa declaring she was having both and that was that. Nobody challenged her on that, Elliott found it strangely endearing and couldn't help but smile fondly. It was decided that along with individual meals they'd also get a whole load of sides to share around. The order was extensive and in the end Cliff wrote it down while she and Cal called the respective restraunts. Cliff let Rinaa and Jay pick the movie and they argued back and forth before coming to a compromise, first they'd watch a generic cheesy action movie and then they'd watch an episode of an old 70s spy show.

The pizzas arrived first, then the burgers. It was already darkening outside the windows by the time the food arrived. The table was cleared of junk and the food, drinks and random items of cutlery spread across the table in a chaotic fashion. With the main lights of the room darkened a cosy and safe atmosphere was created. This was a real family night in, even if they were still all getting to know one another, two were time travellers and one wasn't quite family yet. Elliott took a bite out of the burger and had to stifle back a groan, it was just like he remembered it to be. "Truly the best burger on any planet" He looked skywards. "Sorry A.J.,but you gotta up your game."